biostudies-literatureUnknown13(1)Deng HRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic, autoimmune disease that may lead to joint damage, deformity, and disability, if not treated effectively. Hedyotis diffusa Willd (HDW) and its main components have been widely used to treat a variety of tumors and inflammatory diseases. The present study utilized a network pharmacology approach, microarray data analysis and molecular docking to predict the key active ingredients and mechanisms of HDW against RA. Eleven active ingredients in HDW and 180 potential anti-RA targets were identified. The ingredients-targets-RA network showed that stigmasterol, beta-sitosterol, quercetin, kaempferol, and 2-methoxy-3-methyl-9,10-anthraquinone were key components for RA treatment. KEGG pathway results revealed that the 180 potential targets were inflScientific reports1425https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9877023biostudies-literatureNetwork pharmacology and experimental validation to identify the potential mechanism of Hedyotis diffusa Willd against rheumatoid arthritis.PMC9877023Jiang JWu LSun WZhang SDeng HZhang QfalseNetwork pharmacology and experimental validation to identify the potential mechanism of Hedyotis diffusa Willd against rheumatoid arthritis.Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic, autoimmune disease that may lead to joint damage, deformity, and disability, if not treated effectively. Hedyotis diffusa Willd (HDW) and its main components have been widely used to treat a variety of tumors and inflammatory diseases. The present study utilized a network pharmacology approach, microarray data analysis and molecular docking to predict the key active ingredients and mechanisms of HDW against RA. Eleven active ingredients in HDW and 180 potential anti-RA targets were identified. The ingredients-targets-RA network showed that stigmasterol, beta-sitosterol, quercetin, kaempferol, and 2-methoxy-3-methyl-9,10-anthraquinone were key components for RA treatment. KEGG pathway results revealed that the 180 potential targets were infl2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Jan2025-04-26T17:31:01.295Z2025-04-06T15:30:21.344ZS-EPMC98770233669743610.1038/s41598-022-25579-3